You just didn't get the overall idea of the post. Talking to a woman at the supermarket has the inherent "risk" of being ridiculed, while having the obvious ob

You just didn't get the overall idea of the post. Talking to a woman at the supermarket has the inherent "risk" of being ridiculed, while having the obvious objective upside that it might get you laid - or at least makes you a more confident person. In the same way (now regarding business), pouring time and money into a startup has the inherent risk of said startup going under (and losing some past time and/or money), while the obvious objective upside that if the company makes it big, you're a billionaire. Hell even if it doesn't you've earned experience you can apply in your future endeavors, and you didn't have to listen to 7am lectures at the local college for four years to get to not learn even a tenth of what you learn failing at building a startup.